The Phillies announced a series of roster moves today, placing an outfielder Brandon Marsh And a player Cody Clemens On the injured list for 10 days. Marsh has a right hamstring strain and Clemens has lower back spasms. The latter moved retroactive to May 31. In the corresponding moves, they choose to hold the player David Dahl He called up an infielder/outfielder Weston Wilson. To bring Dal to the fortieth man, the right-hander Michael Rocker He was placed on the 60-day injured list.
Marsh was removed from last night’s game with a hamstring problem, and manager Rob Thompson said after the match that the 26-year-old had been considered day-to-day. It appears the club has decided to let Marsh take matters seriously for at least ten days to get over the issue, although it may not be that long on the IL if it is a borderline situation. The club also has the best record in the National League at 41-19, which may give them the luxury of being cautious. Clemens was initially in last night’s lineup before being scratched due to cramps. It is not known how serious his problem is but he will sit next to Marsh for more than a week.
Subtracting two players from Philadelphia’s roster would create an opportunity for Dahl. The 30-year-old signed a minor league contract with the Phillies in the offseason, has been pitching for Triple-A Lehigh Valley this year, and has been absolutely excelling so far. He has 12 home runs in 166 games and has walked 11.4% of the time. His .340/.416/.660 slash line leads to a ridiculous 171 wRC+.
It’s been a long time since that’s been the case, but Dahl, who was selected No. 10 overall by the Rockies in 2012, was once touted as one of the best prospects in the sport. He had great success in the major leagues, hitting a slash of .315/.359/.500 in 63 games as a starter and hitting .297/.346/.521 over his first 921 MLB plate appearances from 2016 to 2019. However, Injuries plagued Dahl’s career, and for several years left him devoid of the dynamic talent he once seemed.
Dahl suffered a ruptured spleen in a violent off-field collision and ended up needing to have the entire organ removed. He also suffered a stress fracture in his rib cage, a broken foot, a high ankle sprain, a shoulder strain, multiple back injuries, and a quad strain in his big league career. It’s a surprising injury history, highlighted by a splenectomy – something that clearly took a toll on Dahl’s body. From 2020-23, he appeared in just 91 big-league games and hit just .199/.235/.303 in that time. Even his Triple-A production has often been lackluster along the way, but Dahl’s outstanding production in Lehigh Valley this season marks his strongest run of minor league play since the one that led to his original MLB call-up in 2016.
Whether or not Dahl was able to find a second career in his career after numerous physical ailments, the mere fact that he made it back to the major leagues again after so many setbacks is a testament to his perseverance and passion for the game. For now, he’ll give the Phils a shortstop option to help cover Marsh’s absence, but the Triple-A surge is also really interesting. If Dahl proves to once again be a big league-caliber bat, he would be controllable via arbitration during the 2025 season, making him a potential multi-year infield/bench player for the Phils in an ideal scenario.
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